Thanksgiving Strengths

Well, Thanksgiving is past, so the title of this blog is a little misleading. I MEANT to write it Thanksgiving week, but somehow it's December and here I am :)

During this season of the year there are lots of reasons to think about life differently. At Thanksgiving we have a good reason to stop the rat race of our lives and be mindful of our blessings. Even those of us for whom "gratitude" is not a character strength can manage this one day a year :)

During Thanksgiving week I chose to be mindful of all the things I had to be grateful for, as I spent quality time with my parents who are retired in Florida. Being "mindful," according to Ellen Langer's research, involves noticing "novel distinctions" and being open to different ways of viewing the world. So on Thanksgiving Day I was grateful for good health, parents who loved me and each other, and the ability to travel and spend time with them.

On the day after Thanksgiving, I chose to spend the day noticing how people's strengths were being played out in their interactions with other people. Now remember--that was "Black Friday," the day that very few of us are on our "A-game" in interacting with others as we shove to get the "Doorbuster" at Best Buy. It helped me to reframe the way I saw people--focusing on how they were using their strengths meant that I focused on what they were doing that was productive. It also meant that I wasn't nearly as annoyed as I might've been another time--I was seeing them through those "strengths glasses" that Chip Anderson always referred to, which meant my own lens had changed.

I watched some amazing Positivity among the checkout cashiers, saw (and heard!) a lot of Woo and Communication among people as they stood in line, and was not nearly as frustrated with the Deliberative in front of me who was carefully checking her receipt to see that she got all the discounts to which she was entitled :)

You might try it sometime. Just spend a day noticing people's strengths--and taking a minute to be grateful for them. You might find that you'd like to have more than one "Thanksgiving Day" in your year!